Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has taken aim at the fans, players and experts… don’t try and understand him just enjoy the ride

The Manchester United boss sent a message to fans earlier this week but his argumentative approach could help propel the Red Devils to a Premier League title

Fan's view

By Tom McDermott

3rd November 2017, 2:07 pm

Updated: 3rd November 2017, 2:51 pm

It seems like each time Jose Mourinho is asked a question about his United team, he uses it as an opportunity to launch a calculated and verbal attack on someone or something completely different.

Since he was appointed United manager 18 months ago, we’ve seen him take aim at the ‘experts’, his own players and more recently, the fans.

Reuters

United fans are the latest to come into Jose Mourinho's firing line

What we shouldn’t do though, is over-analyse his style and argumentative approach. It’s him, it’s what he does, and if you delve a little deeper, you’ll find a catalogue of similar episodes at other clubs, to go alongside the trophies. And that’s the point.

When board members get together to decide who they want to manage their club, and they come up with the name, J. Mourinho, whether fans like it or not, they’ve not just signed up with the ultimate football pragmatist, but someone who will lead you down a chaotic and combative path towards cup finals and trophies.

On Tuesday night in the match programme before the Champions League game against Benfica, he was at it again. “I hope that you enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham”, was his message, this time to supporters.

It was a response, many believed, to his decision to replace Marcus Rahsford with Anthony Martial after 70 minutes of the 1-0 win against Tottenham last weekend.

Rex Features

Fans were critical of Mourinho's decision to replace Marcus Rashford with Anthony Martial against Tottenham

Sky Sports

Mourinho was caught on Sky Sports making a shushing sign to the camera after the 1-0 win against Tottenham

At best, it was greeted by the odd groan and murmur, but his shushing sign towards the cameras at the end of the game shouldn’t be seen as a note for fans, but more the media, and other ‘experts’. You only need only watch his frosty pre-match interview with Geoff Shreeves, to see why.

For the record, the substitution was another decision Mourinho got spot on, because it was Martial who scored the decisive and only goal in the 82nd minute.

It wasn’t just circumstances during the Tottenham game that provoked this kind of behaviour either because the storm clouds have been circling since last month and the 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

And yet, despite the surprise defeat at Huddersfield the week after - United’s only one in the league this season - Mourinho’s men go into the game at Chelsea on the back of their fourth straight Champions League win, and in doing so, extending their unbeaten home run to over a year, and 37 games in all competitions. Crisis? Shush.

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If questions are to be asked then they should, in all honesty, be directed at Mourinho’s former club and manager Antonio Conte, who in comparison to United and Mourinho, has endured a torrid start to the season.

The time to judge Mourinho is when he’s gone. Will he leave after winning the Premier League title? And has his current behaviour, in a strange way, helped United and moved them closer to success? A kind of ‘us against the world’ mentality, you know, like Sir Alex?